What a great date night: 75 people, mostly in their 20s and 30s, nursing beers in an East Village bar and watching PowerPoint images of worms on a pull-down screen.

The occasion was Nerd Nite, a monthly happening at Angels and Kings, a rock ’n’ roll bar with blood-red walls and comfortable sofas on East 11th Street near Avenue A. For more than two hours early last month, with liberal breaks for refreshment, three speakers lectured on serious topics in what they hoped was an entertaining fashion.

The worm presentation was a repeat performance, titled “Human Parasites, Part 2,” and delivered by Dr. John Dodson, a third-year resident at Columbia University Medical Center. “We’re going to talk about worms because they’re fun,” Dr. Dodson began.

Michael Miscione, the Manhattan borough historian, discussed the 1898 consolidation of New York City while his blond assistant threw Snickers bars to anyone who gave a correct answer to his questions. Neil Janowitz, an editor at ESPN, discussed the subculture of competitive car stereo, giving pointers on expensive subwoofers and equalizers to an audience made up mostly of carless cosmopolites.

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Were going to talk about worms, Dr. John Dodson said, because theyre fun.Credit
Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times

In the audience, Elisa Hertz, 33, was with her friend Emily Sprague. “We come every month,” Ms. Hertz said. An assessment director at Hunter College, she said her work with Excel spreadsheets brought out her nerd side.

Ms. Sprague, 27, said of the evening, “It’s a way to get together and be social without just being in a bar.”

Nerd Nite originated at a bar in Boston in 2003. Matthew Wasowski, a 33-year-old from Brooklyn with vaguely unkempt hair who is a marketer at an educational software company, brought the concept to the East Village two years ago. Ever since, as a self-described “curator of the nerds,” he has presided over lectures on weird neurological disorders, ugly autopsies and the history of Tetris.

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“We had one guy who did a presentation about light-sensitive robots,” Mr. Wasowski, who is skinny and 6 feet 1, said when asked to identify the nerdiest presenter. “He actually built this robot that looked like a giant saucer.” It made an annoying high-pitched squeal when held to the light.

Neither Mr. Wasowski nor the speakers are paid. He tells them that their talks must be not only entertaining, but also factual and backed up by proper references. No Wikipedia, either.